Metal coil spacer

ABSTRACT

A spacer or separator for coils of steel or other metal coils where the coils are stacked on edge with the axes of the coils disposed vertically and the several coils spaced apart vertically for access to individual coils by handling equipment with each spacer formed from an open section of metal having top and bottom surfaces of substantially equal load bearing area connected by one or more vertical load supporting walls contoured to permit some deflection thereof whereby to provide vertical resilience in the spacer member and having reinforcing indentations or corrugations disposed longitudinally and transversely of the load supporting walls and load bearing surfaces respectively and having contours or shape whereby always to assume a load supporting position.

United States Patent p91 Koebel 1 METAL COIL SPACER [75] Inventor: Thomas P. Koebel, Homewood, Ill. [73] Assignee: Zegers, Incorporated, Lansing, 111. [22] Filed: July 11, 1973 211 App]. No.: 378,169

[52] U.S. Cl. 2l4/l0.5 R, 206/65 R [51] Int. Cl. 365g 1/14 [58] Field of Search 220/97 B; 206/65 R;

214/105 R, DIG. 5, DIG. 1, 130 C; 105/369 S .[4 1 Oct. 22, 1974 Primary Examiner-Frank E. Werner Attorney, Agent, or FirmMann, Brown, McWilliams & Bradway 5 7] ABSTRACT A spacer or separator for coils of steel or other metal coils where the coils are stacked on edge with the axes of the coils disposed vertically and the several coils spaced apart vertically for access to individual coils by handling equipment with each spacer formed from an open section of metal having top and bottom surfaces of substantially equal load bearing area connected by one or more vertical load supporting walls contoured to permit some deflection thereof whereby to provide vertical resilience in the spacer member and having reinforcing indentations or corrugations disposed lon gitudinally and transversely of the load supporting walls and load bearing surfaces respectively and having contours or shape whereby always to assume a load supporting position.

9 Claims, 4 Drawing Figures BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION In the handling of the type of steel coils herein contemplated it has been the practice in the past to utilize wooden separator members to space the several coils apart to provide for the insertion of handling equipment between the coils such as the tines of a lift truck. This type of metal coil ordinarily is stacked with the coils on their side or edges and the axes of the coils disposed vertically and spacer members are disposed around the edges of the coils at regularly spaced intervals. Heretofore the wooden spacers have been entirely satisfactory but with the price of wood constantly increasing in the modern market it has become increasingly expensive for processors to bear the burden of these ever increasing costs. The wood used in the previous type of spacer necessarily was of the kiln dried variety which of course increased the cost further. As an example, the cost of a typical wood separator in a length of 8 inches costs the processor approximately thirty five cents while a thirteen inch length wooden separator cost approximately 50 cents. Contrasted with these costs the present metal spacer costs something less than half the cost of the wooden spacers.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 7 The coil spacer or separator of this invention is a fabricated metal, preferably steel, section of hollow or open design and ordinarily is made from scrap metal originating in the normal processing of the very type of steel coils with which the separator is intended to be used. The steel from these coils usually is fabricated into various types of structural or ornamental members or other units such as the curved and shaped slats of metal blinds, or the like, and frequently some of the processed members are rejected or found unacceptable for some reason or other and excess or scrap material is a normal outcome of the manufacturing operations. It is this otherwise unusable material that is utilized for the manufacture of the present coil spearator.

This material instead of being discarded is used to make the coil separator which is made on a roll-form machine or the like, where it is passed through the machine to arrive at the desired open section and then cut to length in accordance with size of the coils with which the separators are to be associated. The separators are manufactured in various lengths corresponding in size to the dimension of the wound metal on the coils. The metal from the coils for shaping may be uncoated for some applications or it may be coated such as by enamel or by anodizing or phosphatizing to provide an ornamental or protective film as dictated by the use to which the fabricated units are to be put. In any event, whether the metal from the coils is coated or uncoated, it may be utilized in the formation of the present spacer.

The formed spacer preferably takes the form of an open section, as shown, and includes top and bottom generally flat surfaces for engagement with the stacked coils. It is important that these surfaces in contact with the edges of the metal wound on the coils be free of any irregular or rough areas since the edges of the coil metal must be maintained free of damage for processing into finished units. The top and bottom contacting surfaces of the spacer preferably are knurled on the load bearing areas and are of substantially identical total dimension in these areas to provide equal load bearing areas between the stacked coils.

As shown, the bottom load bearing areas comprise separate, outwardly directed flanges or smooth flat metal sections of a width approximately one-half the width of the top load bearing area so that the combined width of the two bottom sections equals the width of a the top area. These outwardly directed flanges are provided with reflanges extending upwardly at a suitable angle tocause the spacer automatically to fall into proper load supporting position where the spacer may be dropped onto a steel coil in any other position. The two bottom sections are integrated with the top wall area of the spacer by vertical supporting wall sections that are spaced apart so that the bottom sections are thus spaced apart and the spacing of the bottom sections is such that the distance between the sections is less than the width of the top load bearing wall. The top load bearing wall of the spacer member and the flanged bottom load bearing areas are reinforced by transversely disposed indentations or corrugations and these reinforcements in the bottom flanges may extend into the vertical supporting walls and. into the upwardly sloping reflanges.

The spacer is designed to have some resilience between the steel coils and this is achieved by the provision of lengthwise extending indentations orcorrugations running the length of the vertical supporting walls so that the flexibility or resilience of the spacer is substantially the same throughout its length and the coils separated thereby thus have substantially the same degree of resilient support on the spacers .around their total wound areas and throughout the entire stack of coils.

The spacer may be constructed in the form shown in FIGS. 2 and 3 where the supporting walls extend straight and parallel with the top and bottom load bearing surfaces knurled to avoid skidding or slipping on the coils or the spacer preferably may be formed on a radius as shown in FIG. 4 whereby a spacer of this type always falls into proper load supporting position with the top and bottom load bearing areas in engagement with the steel coils.

OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION It is the primary purpose of this invention to provide a resilient spacer for use between coils of metal which may be constructed more economically than coil separators previously used.

The principal object of the invention is the provision of a coil spacer fabricated from metal normally discarded in the usual processing of metal unwound from such coils and which spacer after normal use is still available as scrap metal if it is not to be used again.

An important object of the invention is to provide a coil spacer formed as an open metal section having load bearing walls of similar area connected by one or more load supporting walls.

A further object of the invention is to provide a metal coil spacer comprised of an open metal section formed on a radius whereby the spaceris shaped to assume a normal load supporting position automatically.

Another object of the invention is the provision of a coil spacer fabricated as a metal section having load bearing walls where one of the walls includes spaced apart sections each connected to the other load bearing wall by a load supporting wall.

A further object of the invention is to-provide a coil spacer fabricated as an open metal section having a unitary load bearing wall and a pair of load bearing walls spaced therefrom by respectively associated load supporting walls with the major portion of each of the pair of load bearing walls extending outwardly of the associated load supporting wall and a portion disposed inwardly thereof so that the distance between the pair of load bearing walls is less than the width of the unitary load bearing wall.

A further object of the invention is the provision of a metal coil spacer comprised of an open metal section having load bearing walls provided with knurled surfaces and having indentations or corrugations reinforcing such walls.

Another object of the invention is to provide a coil spacer comprised of an open metal section having load bearing walls top and bottom connected by spaced load supporting walls with the load bearing walls having transversely disposed reinforcing indentations or corrugations and the load supporting walls have longitudinally disposed reinforcing indentations or corrugations.

A still further object of the invention is the provision of a resilient coil spacer comprised of a formed metal section having a top load bearing wall and a pair of bottom load bearing walls spaced apart and respectively connected to the top load bearing wall by a vertical load supporting wall formed with lengthwise extending indentations or corrugations.

A further object of the invention is to provide a metal coil spacer comprised of an open metal section having a top load bearing wall and a pair of bottom load bearing walls each terminating in an upwardly sloping flange with each of the bottom load bearing walls connected to the top load bearing wall by a vertical load supporting wall and wherein the load bearing walls have transversely disposed reinforcing indentations or corrugations and the load supporting walls have longitudinally disposed reinforcing indentations or corrugations with the transverse indentations or corrugations in the bottom load bearing walls extending into the respective upwardly sloping flange and into the respectively associated load supporting wall.

The foregoing and other and more specific objects of the invention are attained by the coil spacer structure illustrated in the accompanying drawings wherein:

FIG. 1 is a general perspective view of a plurality of steel coils disposed in a vertical stack with the axes of the coils extending vertically and showing a number of the coil spacers of this invention spaced at intervals around the coils between each of the layers formed by the several coils;

FIG. 2 is a detail perspective view of a coil spacer in accordance with one form proposed herein comprising DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENT As shown in the drawings, looking particularly at FIG. 1, the coils 10 are stacked vertically one on top of another and the entire stack is disposed on a pallet or skid 11 by means of which the stack of coils may be transported by a forklift truck, or the like. The coils 10 are stacked on edge with their axes disposed vertically and the several coils are separated by spacers l2 disposed at more or less evenly spaced intervals around the coils. The weight of each of these coils may run in the range of approximately 1000 pounds to approximately 2000 pounds so that the spacers 12, especially those near the bottom of the stack, are subjected to considerable weight and must be designed to take this load without damage to the edges of the coiled steel since damage to those edges may necessitate the rejection of the steel coil for fabrication. As best shown in FIG. 1, it will be seen that the length of each spacer 12 is substantially the same as the dimension of the wound metal on the coil in order to provide support for the coiled metal edges entirely across the area of the wound metal.

The spacers 12 may be fabricated on a roll-form machine and are then cut to the desired length to conform with the dimensions of the coils with which they are to be used. The shape of the formed section comprising the spacer 12, as made on the roll-form machine, is of open or hollow construction, as best illustrated in FIG. 2, and is designed for inherent resiliency in order to provide protection against damage to the edges of the coiled metal to the greatest extent possible. The spacer includes a load bearing wall 13 which in use is normally disposed horizontally for bearing engagement with the edge areas of the wound metal coil. The wall 13 is knurled as at 13a to prevent skidding or slipping between the coils 10 and is integral with a pair of vertically disposed load supporting walls 14 and 15 and these load supporting walls each have lengthwise extending corrugations 16 which run the full length of the spacer. The vertical walls 14 and 15 are integral with horizontally disposed load bearing walls 17 and 18 which are vertically spaced relative to the load bearing wall 13'and are knurled as at 17a and 180, respectively, on their bottom load contacting faces.

The wall 13 is referred to as a top load bearing wall and the walls 17 and 18 are referred to as bottom load bearing walls since this is the normal or usual orientation of the spacer 12 between the coils 10, but it is entirely possible to invert the spacer without adverse effeet on the supported steel coils since the faces of load a resilient metal section of open formation having gations in the top and bottom load bearing walls; and

FIG. 4 illustrates a preferred form of the invention where the spacer of curvilinear contour is formed having a radius.

bearing walls 13, 17 and 18 presented to the coils are generally flat and of the same area. The bottom walls 17 and 18 each are substantially one half the width of the top load bearing wall 13 so that the combined area of the two bottom load bearing walls is substantially equal to the area of the top load bearing wall whereby the bearing pressures on the affected areas of the coil edges are the same on both the top and bottom sides of the spacer.

The bottom load bearing walls 17 and 18 comprise spaced apart sections which, as shown, extend outwardly from the respectively associated vertical supporting walls 14 and 15, which lends stability to the spacers when they are placed on a coil ready for another coil 10 to be placed on top of the spacers in arriving at the stacked arrangement of the coils. The bottom walls or flanges 17 and 18 terminate in reflanges 19 and 20 which extend upwardly at an angle to provide sloping surfaces at the outer sides of the spacer whereby if the spacer is laid on a coil on either of these surfaces it automatically rocks to a normal load supporting position resting on the wall 13 or the walls 17 and 18.

The distance between the spaced bottom wall sections 17 and 18 is less than the width of the top load bearing wall 13 so that in effect the major portio n of each bottom load bearing wall extends outwardly of the respectively associated vertical load supporting wall 14 or 15 while a relatively smaller portion thereof may be said to extend inwardly of the respective vertical walls. Thus, the top load bearing wall 13 can be said at least partially to overlie the spaced bottom load bearing walls. This has the effect of stabilizing the spacer section by applying vertical loads on the respective bottom sections 17 and 18 through the walls 14 and 15 intermediate the width of the bottom sections and thus eliminate or reduce the possibility of the spacer section spreading with the escape of the bottom supporting walls outwardly under applied loads.

The lengthwise extending corrugations 16 in the re spective vertical walls 14 and 15 permit vertical deflection of these load supporting members under load so that the greatest possible protection against damage to the coil edges is provided, which taken with the flat knurled surfaces of all of the load bearing faces substantially eliminates any possibility of damage to the steel coils resulting from use of the present spacers.

The height of the spacer 12 is such as to enable the several coils 10 to be handled individually by suitable shop equipment such as fork lift trucks, or the like, and which may include means to pick up a coil and turn it to a proper position for operative relationship to a machine on which it is to be processed. The height of the spacer is proportioned to the necessity for inserting the tines of a lift truck between the stacked coils to pick up one or more coils for movement from the stack or pick up a single coil and turn it in relation to a machine. Equipment for turning the coil may include devices for gripping the coil between opposing faces or for entering the central opening of the coil in order to handle the coil in a plurality of positions.

The spacer construction illustrated in FIG. 3 represents a further reinforced design of the spacer to avoid failure thereof under extreme loads and the arrangement is such as to resist any tendency of the open section to spread apart or become bent in normal usage. In this structure the top load bearing wall 13 is provided with a plurality of spaced indentations or corrugations 21 extending transversely entirely across the full width of the top wall at regular intervals and terminating in the topmost longitudinal indentation or corrugation 16 in the respective load supporting walls 14 and 15. At the juncture of the load supporting walls with the respective bottom load bearing walls 17 and 18 indentations 22 are disposed at regularly spaced intervals in the corners formed by these respective junctures and the spacing of the indentations 22 may coincide with that of the transverse indentations 21 in the top wall 13, as shown, the indentations 22 are independent of the upwardly sloping outer reflanges 20.

As shown in FIG. 4, the preferred form of the spacer 12 is constructed of curvilinear contour with all of the wall sections curved or formed on a radius whereby the spacer is not only further stiffened and rigidified but regardless of the position of the spacer when placed on a steel coil it will automatically and immediately fall into proper load bearing engagement with the coil either on the knurled surface 13 or the knurled surfaces 17 and 18. In this form of the invention transverse identations or corrugations 21 are disposed at spaced intervals extending entirely across the width of the top wall 13 and terminating in the topmost longitudinal indentation or corrugation 16 of the respective load supporting vertical side walls 15.

Transversely extending indentations or corrugations 23 are disposed at spaced intervals in the bottom load bearing walls 17 and 18 and the spacing of these indentations or corrugations may be at the same spacing as the indentations or corrugations 21 in the top load bearing wall 13. The transversely disposed indentations or corrugations 23 extend entirely across each of the bottom load bearing walls 17 and 18 and merge into the upwardly sloping outer reflange 20 at respectively opposite sides of the spacer. At the inner end of each indentation or corrugation 23 it merges into the lowermost longitudinally extending indentation or corrugation 16 in the respective load supporting sidewalls l4 and 15 so that each bottom load bearing wall 17 and 18 is reinforced and stiffened from the respectively associated vertical wall 14 or 15 and the respective outer reflange 20 is directly reinforced against deflection by the indentations or corrugations 23.

From the foregoing it will be seen that there has been provided a metal spacer for steel coils which is inherently adapted to the forces and pressures for which it is intended and which is initially fabricated from scrap metal and then after utilization in service remains available to recover the scrap value thereof in the event that it is not subjected to repeated use.

The embodiments of this invention in which an exclusive property or privilege is claimed are defined as follows:

1. A spacer member forming one or more supports between stacked coils of metal comprising a formed hollow metal section having top and bottom horizontal load bearing walls of substantially equal area, one or more vertical load supporting walls connecting said load bearing walls, one of said load bearing walls comprising spaced-apart horizontal sections each connected to the other load bearing wall by a vertical load supporting wall, said spaced-apart horizontal sections extending in respectively opposite directions outwardly of the respectively associated vertical load supporting wall, and the distance between said spaced-apart horizontal sections is less than the width of said other load bearing wall.

2. A spacer member as set forth in claim 1 wherein said vertical load supporting walls each include one or more horizontally extending corrugations.

3. A spacer member as set forth in claim 2 wherein the spacer member is fabricated from scrap metal or rejected metal from said coils of metal.

4. A spacer member as set forth in claim 1 wherein the top and bottom horizontal load bearing walls on their respectively top and bottom faces are provided with knurled surfaces.

5. A spacer member as set forth in claim 1 wherein said load bearing walls are provided with transversely disposed corrugations at longitudinally spaced intervals.

6. A spacer member as set forth in claim 1 wherein said top load bearing wall is provided with transversely disposed corrugations at longitudinally spaced intervals and said bottom load bearing walls include indentations at the juncture of the respective bottom load bearing walls and the associated vertical load supporting walls.

form and said load bearing walls and said load supporting walls being constructed on a radius said top and bottom load bearing walls including transversely disposed corrugations at correspondingly spaced longitu dinal intervals, said vertical load supporting walls each including one or more horizontally extending corrugations, and said transversely disposed corrugations merging into said horizontal corrugations.

9. A spacer member as set forth in claim 8 wherein said bottom horizontal load bearing walls each tcrminatcs in an outwardly and upwardly sloping reflange and said transversely disposed corrugations in the bottom horizontal load bearing walls merge into the respective reflanges. 

1. A spacer member forming one or more supports between stacked coils of metal comprising a formed hollow metal section having top and bottom horizontal load bearing walls of substantially equal area, one or more vertical load supporting walls connecting said load bearing walls, one of said load bearing walls comprising spaced-apart horizontal sections each connected to the other load bearing wall by a vertical load supporting wall, said spaced-apart horizontal sections extending in respectively opposite directions outwardly of the respectively associated vertical load supporting wall, and the distance between said spaced-apart horizontal sections is less than the width of said other load bearing wall.
 2. A spacer member as set forth in claim 1 wherein said vertical load supporting walls each include one or more horizontally extending corrugations.
 3. A spacer member as set forth in claim 2 wherein the spacer member is fabricated from scrap metal or rejected metal from said coils of metal.
 4. A spacer member as set forth in claim 1 wherein the top and bottom horizontal load bearing walls on their respectively top and bottom faces are provided with knurled surfaces.
 5. A spacer member as set forth in claim 1 wherein said load bearing walls are provided with transversely disposed corrugations at longitudinally spaced intervals.
 6. A spacer member as set forth in claim 1 wherein said top load bearing wall is provided with transversely disposed corrugations at longitudinally spaced intervals and said bottom load bearing walls include indentations at the juncture of the respective bottom load bearing walls and the associated vertical load supporting walls.
 7. A spacer member as set forth in claim 1 wherein said bottom horizontal load bearing walls terminate in angular reflanges sloping upwardly and outwardly.
 8. A spacer member forming one or more supports between stacked coils of metal comprising a formed hollow metal section having top and bottom horizontal load bearing walls of substantially equal area, one or more vertical load supporting walls connecting said load bearing walls, said spacer being of curvilinear form and said load bearing walls and said load supporting walls being constructed on a radius, said top and bottom load bearing walls including transversely disposed corrugations at correspondingly spaced longitudinal intervals, said vertical load supporting walls each including one or more horizontally extending corrugations, and said transversely disposed corrugations merging into said horizontal corrugations.
 9. A spacer member as set forth in claim 8 wherein said bottom horizontal load bearing walls each terminates in an outwardly and upwardly sloping reflange and said transversely disposed corrugations in the bottom horizontal load bearing walls merge into the respective reflanges. 